DOHA – Ai Fukuhara suffered a pair of five-game losses Thursday as Japan fell to South Korea 3-1 and finished second in their group in the Asian Games women’s table tennis team competition.
Kim Kyung Ah rallied to beat Fukuhara 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-8 in the fourth match to seal South Korea’s victory in a Group C meeting between teams that had already secured their places in the quarterfinals.
South Korea, ranked third in the world, took a 2-0 lead against fourth-ranked Japan after Kim beat Haruna Fukuoka 3-11, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3 in the opening match and Park Mi Young defeated Fukuhara 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3 at Al-Arabi Indoor Hall.